When it arrives Oct. 5, NBA 2K11 will feature a 10-game "Jordan Challenge" that recreates Michael Jordan's most famous performances. Here's a breakdown of each game, its significance, and what you must do - plus one very notable omission.

The Arrival

When and Where: April 20, 1986. Game 2, 1st round playoffs vs. Celtics, at Boston Garden.Goal 1: Score 63 points or moreGoal 2: Shoot 50 percent or better from the fieldSkinny: Although the Bulls lost this game against one of the greatest Boston teams ever, you wouldn't tell it by the way Jordan's showstopping 63-point performance is remembered. After the game, Larry Bird said the Celtics were playing "God disguised as Michael Jordan."

69 Points

When and Where: March 28, 1990. Regular season game vs. Cavaliers, Richfield ColiseumGoal 1: Score 69 points or more.Goal 2: Shoot 50 percent or better from the fieldGoal 3: Win the gameSkinny: Jordan averaged 44 points versus Cleveland in the 1989-1990 season, scored 54 points against them in the season opener, and had buried the Cavs' playoff dreams a year before. Yet Jordan himself considers this staggering 69-point performance his best ever. Teammate Stacey King would say later: "I'll always remember this as the night Michael Jordan and I combined to score 70 points."

Shootout

When and Where: Any date in 1990, a regular season game vs. HawksGoal 1: Outscore Dominique WilkinsGoal 2: Hold Dominique under 25 PointsGoal 3: Win the gameSkinny: There is actually no game played between Chicago and Atlanta in 1990 that matches these conditions. (The closest is this one, Jordan scoring 36 points to the Human Highlight Film's 26.) But 2K Sports clearly wanted to put in a showdown between the league's pre-eminent scoring superstars, at the height of their rivalry.

Bad Boys

When and Where: May 26, 1990. Game 3, Eastern Conference Finals vs. Pistons, Chicago StadiumGoal 1: Score 47 points or moreGoal 2: Win the gameSkinny: This game serves as the basis for The Jordan Rules in NBA 2K11. The year before, Chicago had taken a surprising 2-1 lead in the 1989 Eastern Conference finals against the hated Detroit Pistons, who then rolled out the bruising "Jordan Rules" strategy that targeted the superstar and dared the Bulls to beat them with the supporting cast. When these two hooked up in the 1990 Eastern Conference finals, Detroit deployed the same aggressive tactics en route to a 2-0 lead, before getting torched for 47 in Game Three. Detroit still would win this series, and repeat as NBA champions by sweeping the Lakers.

1991 NBA Finals

When and Where: June 2 thru June 12, 1991 vs. Lakers, Chicago Stadium and the Great Western ForumGoal 1: Average 31.0 points or more for the seriesGoal 2: Shoot 55 percent or better from the fieldGoal 3: Win the seriesSkinny: Magic vs. Michael made the 1991 Finals appointment television for five games, especially after the Lakers stole Game One in Chicago. The highlight will undoubtedly be Jordan's unbelievable switched-hands layup in Game Two - his 13th consecutive field goal of the night - and Scott Williams raising his arms triumphantly despite loafing up the court on the break and not being involved in the play at all.

The Shrug

When and Where: June 3, 1992. Game 1, 1st round playoffs vs. Blazers, Chicago StadiumGoal 1: Score 35 points or more in the first halfGoal 2: Make 6 or more three-pointers in the first halfGoal 3: Hold Clyde Drexler to fewer than 20 points for the game.Goal 4: Win the GameSkinny: After hitting his sixth three-pointer in a scorching 35-point first-half performance, Jordan shrugged to NBC's Marv Albert at the scoring table, as if to say he didn't know how he does it either. The Bulls annihilated Portland 122-89 to open the series, but had to tough out a six-game win to repeat as champions.

Double Nickel

When and Where: March 18, 1995. Regular season game vs. Knicks, Madison Square GardenGoal 1: Score 55 points or more.Goal 2: Shoot 55 percent or better from the field.Goal 3: Win the gameSkinny: After his father was murdered following the Bulls' first three-peat in 1993, a numbed Jordan retired, citing a desire no longer to play basketball, and to pursue a childhood dream of playing professional baseball. The one year experiment didn't work, and in 1995, Jordan returned to a listless Bulls team with a two-word announcement. "I'm back." Six games into his return, wearing No. 45, his baseball uniform number, Jordan cemented his reputation for delivering big-game performances almost at will, with a jaw-dropping 55-point night in the most famous arena in the world.

Father's Day Victory

When and Where: June 16, 1996. Game 6, 1996 Finals vs. Sonics, United CenterGoal 1: Score 22 points or more.Goal 2: Grab nine rebounds or more.Goal 3: Win the gameSkinny: In the first full season of his return, Chicago unloaded an NBA record 72 victory season and demolished the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, losing just one game before meeting Seattle in the Finals. The Bulls took a 3-0 lead on the Sonics before letting them back in with two wins, and the images of Jordan's clinching performance - he shot just 26 percent for the game - are not compelling. But winning a fourth NBA title, clutching the basketball at midcourt, and weeping on the floor of the locker room on Father's Day, is.

The Flu Game

When and Where: June 11, 1997. Game 5, 1997 Finals vs. Jazz. Delta Center.Goal 1: Score 38 points or more.Goal 2: Grab 7 rebounds or more.Goal 3: Win the gameSkinny: Arguably the greatest individual performance under duress in the history of championship sports. Sick with the flu, the Bulls playing in a hostile Delta Center and facing a 3-2 series deficit, Jordan summoned a 38-point effort and the game-winning three point basket, making the most emphatic demonstration of his famous will to win. "No matter how sick I was, how tired I was, I felt the obligation to my team and the city of Chicago to go out, and give that extra effort," he said. Chicago won its fifth NBA title in the next game.

Michael's Last Dance

When and Where: June 14, 1998. Game 6, 1998 Finals vs. Jazz. Delta Center.Goal 1: Score 45 points or more.Goal 2: Get 4 steals or more.Goal 3: Win the game.Skinny: If only it ended here. Jordan's game winning shot for the 87-86 win, and sixth NBA championship, was a storybook finale too good to be true. And it was. Instead of being the last shot he'd ever take, Jordan would return from retirement again three years later, for two forgettable seasons with the Washington Wizards. But his game-winning shot for a sixth NBA title, set up by a steal from Karl Malone with the Jazz up by one, is the only way to end this series of indelible moments.

MISSING: The Shot

When and Where: May 7, 1989. Bulls vs. Cavs, Game Five of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs. Richfield ColiseumSkinny: It's perplexing why 2K Sports did not include "The Shot" - one of the most famous game-winners Jordan hit - in the 10-game Jordan Challenge. With the 1990 Cavaliers appearing in "69 Points," 2K Sports has the likenesses of all the personnel on the court for Jordan's fist-pumping, Game Five dagger to sink Cleveland in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The performance - 44 points, a game-winning basket - closely matches "Michael's Last Dance," so it would seem to be somewhat scriptable within The Jordan Challenge.

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Asked why their game has no "Shot," 2K Sports' Jason Argent indicated it ended up on the cutting room floor. "There are so many amazing Jordan moments that it was very, very hard to choose, so we tried to pick the 10 we felt would be the most fun to play through," Argent said. "But with a legend like Mike, you can never really capture all the greatest moments"

My speculation? They might be saving it for post-release downloadable expansions. Asked earlier about DLC plans for "The Jordan Challenge," Argent declined to answer the question.

"There was a LOT of debate on which game to choose. In the end, we felt that we couldn't leave off MJ's career high ... and that trying to reach 69 would be a more interesting achievement to try and hit for the user."